CHICAGO (23
September 2004) --
Hotel Technology
Next Generation
(HTNG) today made
public the charter
and sponsoring
members of a new
workgroup aimed
squarely at the
Guest Room of the
Future.
The In-Room
Technology Workgroup
sponsored by Cisco
Systems, Guest-Tek,
LodgeNet
Entertainment,
Mandarin Oriental
Hotel Group,
Microsoft Corp.,
Paradyne, and
Quadriga Worldwide,
was announced to
HTNG members on
September 15. In
addition to the
seven sponsors,
applications from
other hotel
companies and
vendors will be
accepted through
October 15, to round
out a balanced
workgroup with a
maximum of 17
companies.
"Most of the major
hotel companies are
reevaluating their
entire networking
strategies for guest
rooms – and even how
they will build and
operate new hotels –
in anticipation of
the move to
all-IP-based in-room
technology,
including telephony,
video-on-demand, and
wireless services,
in addition to
traditional
high-speed Internet
service," said
Douglas Rice,
Executive Director
of HTNG. "This is
an exceptionally
complex issue, and
there is a crying
need for some level
of agreement among
the hotels and the
providers of these
various services as
to how they should,
and can, all
coexist. Already,
several of the
world's largest
hotel companies have
indicated their
desire to be part of
this workgroup."
Nick Price, Director
of Technology and
CTO for Mandarin
Oriental Hotel
Group, one of the
few hotel companies
to have built hotels
using IP networks
for all major
in-room systems,
said "Hotels have
become famous for
implementing
yesterday's
technology today,
just as the consumer
traded today's
technology for
tomorrow's. No
place is this more
evident than in the
guest room where,
for example, even
many middle-income
consumers now have,
at home,
high-definition
televisions with 400
channels, quality
on-demand
programming, digital
video recorders,
searchable program
guides, and high-end
sound systems. But
you can't find many
of these things even
in high-end hotel
rooms. This
workgroup will put
together some of the
best minds from some
of the companies
that are leading the
way to the future,
and design solutions
that make sense for
hotels and, even
more important, that
deliver value to
guests."
Price cited an
example of
implementing
yesterday's
technology, noting
that many hotels
have recently
installed compact
disc players, just
as consumers have
moved en masse to
carrying their own
music and other
entertainment on MP3
players, iPods,
Portable Media
Centers, Tablet PCs,
and laptop
computers. "They
can plug these in to
their audio systems
at home or in their
car, and that is how
they listen to
music. How can we
call a hotel room a
'home away from
home,' when we not
only fail to give
guests the variety
of entertainment
that they want, but
we can't even
support what they
already carry with
them? As an
industry, our answer
to them to date has
been a $6 clock
radio."
Ken Martinez,
Hospitality Market
Business Manager for
Paradyne
Corporation, said
"The evolution of
IP-based networks
has created new
opportunities to
deliver
technology-based
services to guest
rooms over a single
set of wires. In
the past, you needed
two or even three
sets of wires –
coaxial cable,
twisted-pair, and
often Category 5
cable – to deliver
entertainment,
telephone service,
and wired or
wireless high-speed
networks. Today,
all of the
traditional services
– and many new ones
– can be delivered
over a single
network. We call it
the 'triple play'.
This workgroup will
be a forum to sort
out how best to
achieve the triple
play in hotels –
including addressing
a migration path
from their legacy
investments."
"Microsoft has
always been a strong
supporter of
standards and
processes that drive
compatibility and
consistency and is
therefore very
pleased to
participate in
HTNG's workgroup to
deliver
next-generation
guestroom
technology," said
Brian Scott, general
manager of
Microsoft’s Retail &
Hospitality Industry
Solutions Group.
"We want to bring to
the table our
learnings from
Microsoft’s $6
billion R&D
investment and
expertise in
consumer-based
technologies already
in the guests' hands
– such as
Smartphones, Tablet
PCs, Portable Media
Centers – to help
hoteliers offer a
seamless transition
from the home or
office, becoming an
extension of the
guests’ personal
space and
lifestyle."
“The evolution of
technology has
become an
increasingly
important factor in
enabling hoteliers
to define the
in-room and brand
experience for their
guests,” said Mike
Tourigny, Vice
President of
Marketing at Guest-Tek.
“HTNG and this
workgroup are here
to ensure that
technology is seen
as an integral part
of the opportunity,
rather than as a
barrier to
delivering that
experience to their
guests."
Guest-Room
Entertainment
"In the guest-room
entertainment
industry, the
leading companies
understand how to
deliver the content
that guests want,"
said David Bankers,
Senior Vice
President Product
and Technology
Development of
LodgeNet
Entertainment.
"What we're missing
is a common
agreement about how
the infrastructure
should be
provisioned, and how
to get from here to
there. The vendors
needed a forum where
we can work with
both key hotel
customers and other
application
suppliers, and come
to agreement on the
basics. Let's agree
on one or two common
ways to handle the
basics, so we can
focus on
applications that
will really enhance
the guest
experience," said
Bankers.
"We believe the
introduction of
IP-based
technologies will
clearly shape the
future of hotels'
entertainment and
communication
offering, and become
a winning technology
for the industry,"
said Hyacinth Nwana, Product
& Technology
Director for
Quadriga Worldwide
Ltd. in London.
"But with all
winning
technologies, we
understand the
difficulties in
stretching the
current
boundaries. The
Western Union
Telegraph Company in
1876 confidently
asserted that 'this
'telephone' has too
many shortcomings to
be seriously
considered as a
means of
communication.'
This statement
underlines just how
difficult it can be
to pick a winning
technology.
However, that
difficulty should
not be a reason for
neglecting the
technologies that
will shape our
future. The HTNG
workgroup aims to
provide clear
guidance to
hoteliers to ensure
that their
investment decisions
are the right ones
and that they will
be able to back
winners."
Voice-over-IP
Telephony
The rapid growth of
Voice-over-IP (VoIP)
telephony has
created new
capabilities and
expectations among
travelers, such as
personalized speed
dial, call
forwarding,
follow-me,
multi-line ringing,
multi-party
conferencing, and
use of the phone
handset as a text
messaging device.
"Many corporate
travelers have VoIP
phones in their
workplace and have
become dependent on
the advanced
capabilities that
those phones offer,
but they lose them
all when they
travel. Even in
hotels with IP
phones, the
experience is much
less personalized
than they are used
to," said HTNG's
Rice.
"Many hotels are
still fighting the
battle for guest
telephone revenue,
long after they have
lost it," said
Mandarin Oriental's
Price. "Telephones
can no longer be
thought of as
standalone devices
under the hotel's
control. More and
more business
travelers are
starting to carry
fewer and fewer
devices. Some are
down to a single
device that serves
multiple purposes:
telephone, PDA,
e-mail client,
entertainment
center, even as a
remote control for
their television.
And it works
anywhere. That's a
fact, and it's
becoming more so
every year. Guests
are not going to
give those up just
because we want them
to use our phones."
Price continued,
"Today's telephony
challenge is to
integrate the
hotel's telephony
infrastructure in
two ways: with
hotel services, to
enable the guest and
the staff to
interact in a much
richer and more
personalized way;
and with the various
devices that guests
bring with them –
mobile phones, PDAs,
music players, and
notebook computers.
We think there are
telephony vendors
who understand these
challenges and will
work with us and the
other system vendors
to make it happen,
but it wasn't going
to happen without a
push from the
industry. HTNG is
providing that
push."
About HTNG
Workgroups
HTNG workgroups
provide a forum for
a small but
representative group
of customers to work
with a
cross-disciplinary
set of vendors to
solve problems.
Highly focused and
structured, the
workgroups are
charged with
identifying and
building specific
solutions that will
deliver value to
hotels, that no one
vendor can deliver
on their own, and
that can be
accomplished in
about six months.
Because customers
drive the
requirements,
vendors have a ready
market for the
things they build,
and customers no
longer have to buy
multiple systems
piecemeal and
integrate them
themselves.
The workgroup size
is limited to keep
it manageable,
focused, and
productive.
However, HTNG
provides the
opportunity for all
dues-paying members
to view the work
product of each
workgroup as it is
developed, to
provide structured
feedback, and to
implement solutions
in parallel with
workgroup
participants. HTNG
also supports
solution-set
demonstrations, such
as at HITEC 2004,
that can include
products from any
HTNG member that
adopts its
specifications –
whether a workgroup
participant or not.
HTNG specifications
are released to the
public domain when
the workgroup that
produces them
disbands, usually
after no more than
eighteen months.
HTNG members, both
hotels and
technology vendors,
can propose and
sponsor new
workgroups, and can
apply to participate
in workgroups
sponsored by other
members.
Workgroup
Applications
Applications to
participate in this
workgroup will be
accepted through
October 15 from
current or newly
joining HTNG
members. Advance
interest in this
workgroup has been
extremely high and
the number of
available slots is
limited. HTNG's
selection criteria,
as well as the
application process,
are described at
http://www.htng.org/workgroup_policies.htm.
Applicants not
selected to
participate will
still have full
opportunity to view
proceedings and
intermediate work
product from the
workgroup, as well
as final
specifications.
Member technology
vendors can develop
product to those
specifications and
participate in
HTNG-supported
demonstrations.
Applications for
HTNG membership can
be processed online
at
http://www.htng.org/JoinHTNG.htm.
About Hotel
Technology Next
Generation
The premier
technology solutions
association in the
hospitality
industry, HTNG is a
self-funded,
non-profit
organization with
members from hotel
and hospitality
companies,
technology vendors
to hospitality, and
other industry
members including
consultants, media,
and academic
experts. HTNG’s
members participate
in focused
workgroups to bring
open solution-sets
addressing specific
business problems to
the hospitality
market.
Membership in HTNG
is open to hotel and
hospitality
companies,
technology vendors
to hospitality,
consultants,
academics, press and
others. Currently
nearly 120 companies
and individuals from
across this spectrum
are active HTNG
members. Workgroup
proceedings, drafts,
and specifications
are published for
all HTNG members as
soon as they are
created, encouraging
rapid and broad
adoption.
Specifications are
released to the
public domain when
the workgroup has
completed its work,
typically after no
more than 18
months. For more
information, visit
www.htng.org.
* * *
Source: Hotel
Technology Next
Generation
Contact: Douglas
Rice
Exec.Director@htng.org
+1 847 348 1148
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